The rising junior on his declaration for the NBA Draft, what he hopes to gain from the process and his attention-grabbing sophomore season.
Nathan Baird/Journal & Courier

Both Carsen Edwards and Nojel Eastern have left often the option to return to the Boilermakers.

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Carsen Edwards of Purdue with a drive to the basket against Michael Hurt of Minnesota Sunday, February 25, 2018, at Mackey Arena. Purdue defeated Minnesota 84-60.(Photo: John Terhune/Journal & Courier)Buy Photo

Story Highlights

Carsen Edwards averaged 18.5 points as Purdue's Team MVP last season.

Nojel Eastern came off the bench in all 37 games as a freshman.

Underclassmen must withdraw from the draft by May 30 in order to retain their eligibility.

WEST LAFAYETTE — Carsen Edwards bristled at the question — or did he? Purdue basketball's star guard doesn't betray much during interviews, where his brash court personae also sometimes bleeds over.

So a question about Edwards needing to prove himself more in pre-NBA Draft workouts this summer due to

his height, followed by a response of, "You saying I'm short," produced only a fleeting moment of tension.

Then came laughs, followed by an admission of the mindset that prompted the 6-1 scorer from Atascocita, Texas, to pursue the draft evaluation process this summer.

"I honestly look at it as I'm a long way from being able to be at that level," Edwards said. "So I just keep working. Just take it day by day. I feel like I've said that a lot — just take it day by day."

Edwards' eventual NBA workouts will determine how close he is to that level. As of Thursday he had none scheduled, but confirmed he knows some franchises have reached out about bringing Edwards in after April 24, when in-person evaluations begin.

Both he and teammate Nojel Eastern — who similarly declared for the draft earlier this week without signing an agent — possess similar goals. Both aspire to impress NBA talent evaluators enough that they are beckoned to professional basketball immediately.

Both, however, also see the long-term benefit to their college game that could come through summer feedback.

"I want to go out there and perform against the best players in college basketball or coming from overseas, to get the best evaluation of what I need to work on for the summer," Eastern said.

"Playing in front of important people like that can get you notoriety, get you out there a little bit. For me, I want to know, throughout this process of offseason work, what I need to do to perfect my game as much as possible in all aspects."

Edwards reached out to the Boilermakers who went through the process before — Portland Trailblazers rookie Caleb "Biggie" Swanigan, outgoing teammate Vincent Edwards — and other connections to gauge what to expect in the coming weeks.

Scouts and general managers know Edwards can score. He led the Boilermakers with 18.5 points per game. They know he can shoot (40.6 precent on 239 attempted 3-pointers), that he brought a new level of efficiency to his game last season, and that he possesses additional upside on defense.

But when he steps into NBA gyms this summer, what does Edwards want them to see with their own eyes?

"That I'm a dog," Edwards said. "That I'm going to fight. I'm going to play every game. I want them to know I'm coachable — I'll listen to them and take in anything they tell me, but I'll go hard every day."

CLOSE

The guard on what he expects to learn from the process after spending his freshman season as a Boilermaker reserve.
Nathan Baird/Journal & Courier

Edwards' draft declaration was expected. Eastern's was not, in part because he came off the bench in all 37 games and averaged only 2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds with more turnovers than assists.

Yet after discussing things with his family, Eastern decided there weren't a lot of 6-6, 225-pound guards around, and he wanted to know where he stood.

Eastern said the possibility of not getting invited to a workout factored into his decision-making process. He shrugged off the social media reaction directed toward a relative unknown putting his name in along with the biggest stars in college basketball.

"I didn't react any way," Eastern said. "Some people appreciated it, some people not. I can't change their mind. They have an opinion and I respect their opinion, but that's not going to stop me from trying to be the best player I can possibly be.

"I'm going to continue to get better, continue to grind this offseason, so I can come back the best player I can."

Matt Haarms took two weeks off after the season due to a bout of bursitis in his right elbow. The 7-3 sophomore-to-be looks like a future pro due to his rim protecting defensive ability and an emerging offensive game.

Yet Haarms said he never considered putting his name into draft consideration.

The native of The Netherlands returns home on May 8 to participate in tryouts for the Dutch national team. Haarms hopes to earn a spot on the 'A' team that would then play for Olympic games qualification.

Edwards, Eastern and Haarms all project to play significant roles in 2018-19 for a program that sent off four senior starters.

Edwards made his draft declaration before heading to Los Angeles, where he was presented with the Jerry West Award as the nation's top shooting guard. That capped a month-long run of awards that included first team All-Big Ten status, Purdue's most valuable player award and multiple All-American mentions.

The attention keeps increasing, and now it's coming from the NBA. The focus, Edwards said, doesn't waver.

"There's so much room for me to improve, I can't get too ahead of myself, because I realize a lot of things I need to work on," Edwards said.